


Parenthood

by Yugioh779



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: M/M, family au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-24
Updated: 2018-09-24
Packaged: 2019-07-16 07:08:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16081031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yugioh779/pseuds/Yugioh779
Summary: Hank is left to raising his infant son Cole all by himself but unexpectedly finds help in Connor who had no interest in the small child at first.





	Parenthood

**Author's Note:**

  * For [zippyzip](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=zippyzip).



The sound of crying filled the small house. The only one who responded to the cries was Connor. He woke up from his rest mode when the crying started. He turned his head to the side to see his partner Hank, still asleep. He didn't even react to the sounds coming from the room next door. Connor wondered if Cole had kept him up late again. That baby seemed to think that night was day and day was nighttime. Did all human infants stay wake up during the night? Connor had only been awake for a few seconds and already the cries had turned into screams. He reached over with one hand and gently nudged Hank's shoulder to wake him up but all he got was a grunt. “Hank, wake up.” He nudged him with a bit more force but his partner still didn't wake up. He tried a few more times before giving up. It was useless. Hank wasn't waking up any time soon. Connor would have continued his efforts to wake up Hank but the sounds of Cole's crying were too much for the android to bare. They were distressing. Connor sighed as he got out of bed and went to the nursery. There he found Cole in his crib swaddled in his favorite green blanket and screaming at the top of his lungs.

“How on earth can your father sleep through this?” Connor asked the infant, knowing full well that he wouldn’t receive any kind of response. Cole continued to cry while Connor stood beside the crib and observed him. He scanned the small form and found that he was hungry. “You need food.” He looked around the nursery, a bit unsure of what to do. He had no experience with children, especially one so young. He had been living with the two for a few weeks now and observed Hank look after Cole but watching and doing were two different things. Sure he saw what was needed to do in order to look after the baby but was he capable of doing it himself, without any assistance? He didn't have much of a choice. Hank was asleep and Cole needed to be taken care of and he was the only one who could do it at the moment. 

Connor leaned down and carefully picked up the child from his crib exactly the way Hank did. He held the small bundle close to him as he supported him with one arm while the other kept him from falling. When the child was secure in his arms, Connor took a moment to process the situation. This was all new to the android. This was his first time holding such a young child. Hank had asked him a few times if he had wanted to try holding Cole but Connor politely declined each time. He looked down at the child in his arms and to his surprise, he had calmed down a bit. His screams had now turned into small whimpers. Connor felt something change inside of him. He couldn't tell what it was. A quick scan revealed that there was nothing wrong with any of his mechanics but something definitely was not right. Was he feeling some sort of human emotion? No. That couldn't be right. Androids weren't programmed with the ability to feel any human emotions but the more he thought about it, the more it made sense. Was he feeling…joy? It was the only explanation he could think of. He couldn't think about this right now. He had to look after Cole. 

He took the child to the kitchen and looked around. He needed to prepare his food but first, he needed a place to set the child. He wasn’t as skilled as Hank. Hank could prepare the bottle while holding Cole. He scanned the area and in the living room, he found Cole’s car seat. Perfect. He got on his knees in front of the car seat and carefully placed the child inside. He made sure he was comfortable then went to the kitchen. He knew where everything was and what he would need to prepare a bottle as he had watched Hank do it hundreds of times but just how to put everything together was a mystery to him. He gathered everything he would need and placed them on the counter but remained confused on what to do with them. He had the bottle and the nipple, measuring cups, formula powder, and a pot to boil water in. These were all of the things he had seen Hank use but he couldn’t remember all of the steps. He thought he did but the thought of doing it all alone made him pause. He was an android. Why was this making him nervous? Only humans got nervous, right?

He looked at all of the items before him. He wasn’t sure where to start. Looking at the formula box, it seemed to have lots of writing on it so maybe it had instructions on it. It was worth a shot. He picked up the box and looked it over. He was right. On the back were all the instructions he would need. He felt relieved. The instructions said to wash his hands thoroughly which he did then to sterilize the bottle and nipple in boiling water. He filled up the pot and when the water was at a boil he put the items inside and set a timer for five minutes. Five minutes went by fairly quickly and the timer went off so he moved the pot and removed the bottle and nipple from the water. He set them on a clean towel to let them dry then went to boil the second batch of water. The instructions had told him to boil additional water which would be poured into the bottle. He placed the pot on the burner and set the timer again, this time for two minutes. When the timer went off he removed the second pot and let it cool to the recommended temperature. By then, the bottle had cooled off so he poured in the water. Now he needed to add the formula powder. He read the instructions and added the required amount of powder, secured the nipple and shook well. 

When it was ready he went over to Cole and pressed the rubber nipple to his lips but he refused to open his mouth. Instead, he turned his head away and whined. He kept trying to get him to latch but it failed. Some of the formula leaked onto his lips but that did nothing to convince him to latch. “I have your food.” Connor would have thought that since he was hungry, he would be eating right away but he didn’t seem interested. He scanned the baby again and confirmed that he was in need of nutrition. “Why don’t you want to eat?” Suddenly and thought came to mind. Whenever Hank would feed Cole, he was always holding him. Connor set the bottle down on the nearby coffee table and picked up the baby. He sat on the sofa and made sure Cole was in a comfortable position for feeding. He picked up the bottle and tried to feed him again. This time he latched on immediately.

“So you want to be held while you eat?” Cole looked up at Connor as he ate. His eyes were bright and so full of life. It was a precious sight. It made Connor’s metaphorical heart melt. He couldn’t help but smile as he looked into those big eyes. The sounds that Cole made while he ate were definitely the cutest things Conner had ever heard. As Cole ate, his little hands grabbed at whatever they could reach and the thing that was in his immediate reach was Connor’s hand that was holding up the bottle. Connor was so focused on the child’s face that he didn’t even notice his hands until they gripped his fingers. He looked down and saw one trying to wrap around his pinky. He tilted his head in curiosity and lifted his finger off the bottle. The moment he did, the small hand grabbed it and squeezed so tightly that all of his little fingers turned white.

“That’s a strong grip you have there,” Connor said, followed by a small chuckle. Cole’s gaze never left Connor’s face and the android swore he saw his lips curl up in a smile as he spoke to the child. He knew that at this age, Cole couldn’t understand him but he did like having people talk to him. After Cole was done with his bottle, Connor set it down on the table and picked up a burp cloth that he had retrieved from the nursery as he waited for the water to boil. He draped it over his shoulder then propped Cole against him. He knew he had to pat his back but he wasn’t sure how much force to use or what was too much. The last thing he wanted to do was cause harm to such a small child. He decided to start off lightly and if it didn’t work he would apply more force gradually until he heard a burp. He patted his back and when he didn’t hear anything he tried a bit more force. He had to do this three times until he heard a small sound come from Cole’s mouth. “There we go. All better.”

Now that Cole had been fed and burped he was content. He snuggled up to Connor and grabbed on to his shirt with his little hands. It was almost as if he was telling him to keep holding him. He wasn’t ready to be put back in his crib. Connor happily obliged and adjusted the baby in his arms so the two of them would be comfortable. They stayed like that for a while. Instead of going to sleep like most young babies after eating, Cole remained wide awake and looked up at Connor. He was curious about the person who was holding him. He knew that it wasn’t his father. His little hand explored the fabric of Connor’s clothes then moved up to his face. There he touched his cheeks and lips. “Is that entertaining Cole?” The baby looked up when he heard his name and smiled. Connor returned the smile and let the baby keep touching his face and whenever a small hand reached his lips he couldn’t resist, he had to kiss those small hands. When he did a little squeal of laughter came from Cole.

Connor was so focused on Cole that he didn’t hear when Hank got out of bed. He made no attempt to be quiet as he walked from the bedroom to the main living space. The floorboards creaked loudly under his weight. When he left his room he looked around for Connor and paused when he saw the sight before him. Connor was sitting on the sofa, holding and talking to Cole. His eyes widened at the sight. Never in a million years did he ever expect Connor to willingly hold Cole. He had never shown interest in him before. On multiple occasions, he had asked the android if he wanted to at least hold Cole’s hand but he declined the offers. Even so, here he was holding the most precious thing to Hank with the biggest smile he had ever seen on his face. Hank was utterly speechless. 

“So um... What’s going on here?” Hank finally said.

“Oh, you’re awake.” Connor looked up at Hank, the sweet smile remaining on his face. “I wasn’t able to wake you and Cole was hungry.”

“So you fed him all by yourself? How on earth did you handle that?” Hank asked as he walked over to them and sat on the empty space beside Connor.

“I admit, it was challenging but I was able to figure it out. I observed you on multiple occasions as you prepared the formula and there were instructions on the box that aided me.”

“I’m more amazed at the fact that you got him to eat. That’s the hardest part because he won’t always take to the bottle right away.”

“He did fuss at first but after I adjusted him into the right position he began to eat without any problems.”

“Huh. I need to learn this little trick of yours.” Hank adjusted himself on the sofa and wrapped an arm around Connor’s shoulders. In response, Connor cuddled close to Hank and the baby in his arms cooed happily when he saw his father.

“I think he wants you to hold him.”

“Does he now? Alright, come here little man.” Hank carefully took Cole from Connor’s arms and placed him against his chest. He positioned his small head right where he heart was which immediately relaxed the child. Connor watched as Cole yawned and snuggled against Hank. A little hand grabbed onto the fabric of his shirt and refused to let go. Connor scanned him and saw that he was calm and ready to fall asleep.

“He likes that,” Connor said.

“What? Hearing my heartbeat? Yeah. All children do.”

“Why?”

“Well in the womb, the first thing a baby hears is the mother’s heartbeat. It’s familiar to them so when they hear it, it calms and relaxes them.”

“Can I try?” Hank looked at him, a bit confused. He was going to ask if Androids had a “heart” and if it beat like a human’s would but he didn’t. Connor looked so eager to try. This was the first time he showed any kind of interest in Cole and Hank wasn’t going to ruin it. He needed all of the help he could get with this little one. Instead, he nodded and gave Cole back to Connor. He placed Cole against his chest and mimicked Hank’s actions. He placed Cole’s head over his heart and the baby immediately yawned. “He likes it.”

“I told you.” The two of them sat there and watched as Cole drifted off to sleep in Connor’s arms. Hank was smiling so much that he thought his face was going to crack. His cheeks were already starting to hurt but he didn’t care. This sight was going to be burned into his memory for the rest of his life. The smile on Connor’s face as he looked at Cole was enough to take his breath away. “You should put him in his crib,” Hank whispered in Connor’s ear when he was sure that Cole was sound asleep. Connor tried to protest but Hank insisted. Connor gave in and carefully got up and went to the nursery. Hank followed close behind and there he showed Connor how to properly swaddle Cole. It took a few tries but Connor got the hang of it without waking him up.

“You amazed me today,” Hank said as they left the room. He left the door open slightly in case Cole woke up so they would be able to hear him.

“I did?” Connor tilted his head to one side and looked at Hank curiously. That look made Hank pause. He never thought an android would affect him like this. 

“Y-Yeah… For weeks you never once wanted to do anything with my son. Even if it was just holding his hand but today you not only held him, but you fed him and played with him. What changed your mind?”

“It’s as I said before. Cole was crying and you wouldn’t wake up. I didn’t want the poor thing to keep crying so I went to check on him. I just did what I had to do to calm him down.” Connor shrugged but Hand could see right through him. He smirked. “What is it, lieutenant?”

"You can deny it all you want but deep down I know you care about him. I’m glad. I could really use your help in raising him.”

“You want my help to raise your son?” Connor’s eyes widened in disbelief at Hank’s words.

“Well yeah. I’m a single father with a five-month-old baby and you are already practically living with me.”

Connor thought about it for a few moments then nodded and smiled. “I’d like that.”


End file.
